Would You Be So Kind
by arcadiaannex
Summary: oh, would you be so kind as to fall in love with me? / inspired by would you be so kind by dodie clark


_**i have a question**_

 _ **it might seem strange**_

Marinette tapped her pencil against her chin, trying to think up the right words. After a moment, she continued writing. She was so focused on what she was writing that she didn't hear her name being called; "Marinette. _Marinette!_ "

It was Alya tapping her shoulder that drew Marinette from her thoughts. "Yes? What?"

Ms. Mendeleiev narrowed her eyes at Marinette. "Do I need to confiscate whatever it is you're working on that does not have to do with this class?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "N-No! I, uh… I'm taking notes!" The girl smiled wide, hoping she wouldn't be caught in her lie.

"Then you'll have no problem telling me what I was just talking about."

Marinette opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. She hadn't been paying attention at all. She had no idea what Ms. Mendeleiev had been talking about. "Er…" Marinette glanced over at Alya's notes. "...exponents?"

The look on Ms. Mendeleiev's face told Marinette that her answer was not good enough. The teacher held her hand out. "Give me whatever it is you're working on."

Marinette sighed. She grabbed her notebook and walked it to the front of the classroom. She handed it over before heading back to her seat next to Alya. Ms. Mendeleiev was still reading what Marinette had written. "What is this, Marinette?"

Marinette felt her cheeks turn pink. "A-a poem? Or a song? I don't know, I was just writing." She laid her head on the table and covered it with her arms while Chloe snickered.

"Marinette? Writing a song? Ha!"

"I'm sure it's better than anything you've ever written," Alya mumbled under her breath.

 _ **how are your lungs?**_

 _ **are they in pain?**_

As soon as the bell rang, releasing the class, Marinette hurried to the front of the room. "Can I have my notebook back please?"

Ms. Mendeleiev studied Marinette for a moment before she replied, "Only if you promise to keep your song and poem writing for your free time."

"I promise!" With that, Marinette received her notebook back. She hurried out of the classroom before her teacher changed her mind.

Marinette was headed towards Alya, but was interrupted by a voice: "I didn't know you wrote songs." It was Adrien.

Marinette spun around to face her crush, certain her cheeks were bright red. "Oh, I, uh, I just… I just started. Last week."

"What do you write about?"

Marinette wanted to just disappear. How could she tell Adrien that she was writing about _him_? Even if she told him the generic idea, he would still surely conclude that they were about him. There was no way out of this, there was no way-

"How about you just read me the first few lines?" Adrien suggested. "I know describing your writing can be tough sometimes. That is, if you want to of course."

"Oh! Uh, sure!" Marinette looked down at her notebook and began to read the words she had written, "'I have a question, it might seem strange. How are your lungs? Are they in pain?'"

Adrien looked confused for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Oh, like your emotions! And how they can sometimes make your chest hurt! I like it."

All Marinette could do was offer Adrien a smile and hope her face wasn't redder than a tomato.

 _ **'cause mine are aching**_

 _ **think i know why**_

As Marinette watched Adrien walk away, she thought about the words to the song (or poem or whatever it was) she had written. She wondered if Adrien's lungs had ever ached the way hers had when she thought about him. If he'd ever stumbled over his words and made a fool out of himself because he couldn't gather his thoughts and couldn't ignore the feeling in his chest when looking at someone.

Of course, how could Adrien make a fool out of himself? He was too perfect for that. But even perfect people had aching lungs filled with frantic butterflies at some point, didn't they?

 _ **i kinda like it, though**_

 _ **you wanna try?**_

"You've been distant ever since we got out of school, girl!" Alya exclaimed over the phone. "What happened between you and Adrien? Seriously, you've got to tell me!"

"It… It was nothing. He just asked about what I was writing."

"And let me guess, it was a love poem to him and you had to play it off? Come on, Marinette! You've got to get those butterflies in your stomach under control or you won't have a chance! Just tell him the poem's about him and let him read it!"

"What?!" Marinette shouted. "No way! I can't do that!"

"Why not?! Basically everyone already knows you're hopelessly in love with him. And he'd be crazy to not like you back, especially after you wrote him a _song_!"

"Alya…" How could Marinette ever gather up enough courage to let Adrien read what she'd written? As if the longing ache in her chest and the butterflies in her stomach would ever allow it to be that easy.

Although… No matter how bad the ache got, it wasn't... _bad_. It was kind of nice. It was caused by a good emotion, not a bad one. Though Marinette would never wish that kind of ache on Adrien, she wondered what would happen if he felt it too. Could her poem really make that happen?

 _ **oh, would you be so kind**_

 _ **as to fall in love with me?**_

The next day at school, Marinette sat down next to Alya moments before class started, still half-asleep. She'd been up late last night patrolling as Ladybug and lost track of time. Then, she'd still had to complete her homework. Marinette was too tired to notice Adrien furiously scribbling in front of her. If she'd been more awake, she would have tried to look at what he was writing, but she was too tired to care about pretty much anything at the moment.

"What happened to you?" Alya whispered as Marinette sat down.

"I barely got any sleep last night," Marinette groaned. She laid her head down on the table, pondering if she could get away with a five minute nap.

Twenty minutes into class, Marinette was nearly asleep with her head leaning against her hand until Alya slid a paper over to her. Marinette gave her a strange look until Alya gestured towards Adrien. It seemed Marinette was awake instantly. She unfolded the paper and sure enough, Adrien's name was at the top and underneath was the words, _"_ _In response to the first lines of your song"_.

Marinette couldn't hardly read the words fast enough. Adrien had not only liked her writing, but he had responded to it?! Marinette half-wondered if she actually _had_ fallen asleep and this was just a dream.

Adrien had written a poem in response to what Marinette had shared with him the previous day. It almost sounded like it was about Marinette, but maybe that was just because Marinette wanted it to be about her.

 _ **you see, i'm trying**_

 _ **i know you know that i like you**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

After Marinette had finished reading Adrien's poem, she scrawled a few compliments on the bottom of the paper and passed it back to him. It was a few moments before Adrien looked back at Marinette and mouthed, _"You liked it?"_

Marinette nodded overenthusiastically. Adrien, who had previously looked almost surprised that Marinette had liked it so much, smiled at Marinette and Marinette's stomach seemed to do a somersault.

"Adrien! Marinette! Pay attention!" Their teacher exclaimed. Adrien quickly looked back to the front of the room as did Marinette. Marinette was desperately hoping she wasn't going to get in trouble for the second day in a row.

"Would you like to share what you're talking about with the class?"

"Just French literature," Adrien answered quickly. It wasn't exactly a full lie, but the two certainly weren't talking about the French literature they should have been talking about.

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love**_

Not long after Marinette and Adrien had been called out for talking when they weren't supposed to, a not landed in front of Adrien. He looked over at Nino, who had slid it to him, and Nino pointed to Marinette. Adrien unfolded the piece of paper and read what Marinette had written; _"Who was the poem about?"_

Adrien bit his lip. If he trusted anyone enough to say who it was about, it was probably Marinette, but he couldn't just write it on a piece of paper. So he scribbled, _"I'll tell you after school,"_ and passed the note back to Marinette.

 _ **i think it's only fair**_

 _ **there's gotta be some butterflies somewhere**_

 _ **wanna share?**_

Adrien did not get the chance to tell Marinette who his poem was about after school because there was an Akuma attack and he had to rush off to the bathroom so he could transform and save Paris.

It wasn't like Marinette noticed, though, because she was busy transforming into Ladybug in the girls' bathroom. She just figured she would have to talk to Adrien about his poem some other day.

 _ **'cause i like you**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

As soon as Marinette saw Adrien at school the day after the Akuma attack, she launched into an apology about how she had to rush off after school because her parents needed her help at the bakery. At the same time, Adrien launched into an apology about how his bodyguard wouldn't allow him to wait for Marinette after school but he should be able to stay today.

As soon as each realized the other was also apologizing, their voices trailed off into nervous laughter.

"So, uh, we can talk after school today, then?" Adrien asked. Marinette just nodded, not trusting herself to talk without stumbling over her words.

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love with me**_

Thankfully, this day did not end in an Akuma attack. So Alya and Nino bid their friends farewell and then proceeded to watch Marinette and Adrien talk from behind a bench.

"So…" Adrien began, "the poem…"

"It was really good!" Marinette replied, though she felt like she was repeating herself. She'd already told Adrien she liked it at least three times now. "I was just curious about who it was about, you know, if you feel comfortable saying. I totally understand if you're not!"

"No, it's fine. I just didn't want to write it down on paper with no explanation," Adrien explained.

"Oh. Okay." Marinette was confused. What was so important that it had to be said in person?

"It's about…" Adrien looked at the ground. "It's about Ladybug."

Marinette was fairly certain her heart stopped beating.

 _ **let's write a story**_

 _ **be in my book**_

Ladybug was completely distracted that night during patrol, and Chat was very confused as to why. It wasn't her normal distraction, either. Ladybug was distracted some nights, but never like this. Usually, she would just ramble on about whatever came to her mind, but tonight, she was silent. She kept looking in the direction of Adrien's house, though that might have been a coincidence.

"What are you thinking about, M'lady?" Chat finally asked, desperately wanting to know.

"Nothing!" Ladybug replied too quickly. She looked over at him. "Why?"

"Because you're silent. Even when I was trying to annoy you into talking earlier, you didn't say anything. You just keep looking off into the distance."

"Oh, I'm just thinking," Ladybug replied. She shot a glance in the same direction she'd been looking, at Chat was almost convinced she was looking at his house. But why? She couldn't have known about the poem he'd written about her because the only person who knew about that was Marinette. Surely Marinette and Ladybug weren't close enough that Marinette had already gone off and told her. And why would Ladybug care about a crush from someone she'd only ever met once or twice?

 _ **you've got to join me on my page**_

 _ **at least take a look**_

Since Ladybug was very clearly distracted for one reason or another, Chat took the poem he'd written about Ladybug from his pocket. He probably shouldn't have kept it with him, but he didn't want to leave it unguarded in his room. Something about Marinette liking it so much when it was inspired by her made it special.

Chat read over the words, glancing up at Ladybug every once in awhile. Partially to make sure she hadn't grown suspicious of his silence and looked over at him, and partially because the poem kept reminding him that who it was about was literally two meters away from him.

Chat had half a mind to end the night by giving it to Ladybug. It was written for and about her, after all, but he couldn't very well give it to her as Chat. Not when it had Adrien's name at the top. Maybe he could rewrite it on a different piece of paper and give it to Ladybug another night.

 _ **oh, where are your manners?**_

 _ **you need some time?**_

"What are you reading?" Ladybug's voice interrupted Chat from his thoughts.

"Nothing!" Chat quickly folded up the paper and shoved it back into his pocket. "Just… just a thing I wrote."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "A thing _you_ wrote?"

"Cats can write too, you know."

"Hm." Ladybug looked back off into the distance and Chat looked at Ladybug. He wished he could just give her the poem, or read her the poem, or _something_. To get the ache in his lungs to lessen a bit. If only Marinette had read far enough into her song to offer advice on how to get your feelings to stop hurting you…

 _ **let's swap chests today**_

 _ **that might help you decide**_

"You ever experience feelings that physically make your chest hurt?" Chat asked Ladybug, mostly to break the silence.

"Yeah," Ladybug responded absentmindedly.

"O-oh." Chat hadn't expected the answer to be yes. "Wait, really?"

Ladybug looked over her shoulder at Chat. "Doesn't everyone at some point?"

Chat thought for a moment. "I guess so, yeah..." Chat's mind began to wander. Who made Ladybug's lungs ache? Who made Ladybug's stomach fill with butterflies? Who made Ladybug feel the way she made Chat feel? Was there someone, or were her chest-hurting emotions not rooted in love?

 _ **oh, would you be so kind**_

 _ **as to fall in love with me?**_

The next night, Ladybug was already in her and Chat's spot when Chat arrived. Chat hadn't expected her to show up at all - they usually didn't do a lengthy patrol two nights in a row - but there she was. It seemed she was still pondering whatever had been on her mind the night before.

"Good evening, M'lady," Chat said as he sat down next to Ladybug. Ladybug looked over at him. So apparently she wasn't as distracted tonight as she had been the previous night.

"Hello."

"I didn't expect to see you here." Chat put his arm around Ladybug and, surprisingly, she allowed it. "What has you up so late tonight?"

"Just needed some fresh air and a place to think. You?"

"Same thing."

 _ **you see, i'm trying**_

 _ **i know you know that i like you**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

"What are you thinking about?" Chat asked after a few moments of silence.

Ladybug shrugged Chat's arm away. "It doesn't really matter." She turned so she was facing the opposite direction of Chat. Clearly she didn't want to talk about whatever was on her mind.

"That's fine. We can talk about anything, if you want."

Ladybug shot a glance back at Chat. "Why don't we talk about your troubles?"

Chat simply waved the question aside. "My troubles are that the ground is too claustrophobic sometimes. I needed a rooftop and open air so I could breathe easier. Let's talk about something simpler. Like… if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

Ladybug thought for a minute before answering. "New York City. I want to see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Oh! And I'd like to see a musical on Broadway."

Chat nodded. "That would be fun. But I think I'd rather see the Great Barrier Reef."

Ladybug giggled. "Aren't cats supposed to not like water?"

Chat shrugged. "What can I say? I'm not like the other cats." Chat winked at Ladybug, causing her to roll her eyes at him.

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love**_

Ladybug leaned her head on Chat's shoulder and Chat had to remind himself to breathe. She was probably just too tired to care at the moment, surely that was it. They'd been up late last night and here they were up late again and Ladybug must be tired and that was why she'd leaned her head on Chat's shoulder. That was why.

"Why'd you really come out here?" Ladybug questioned.

Chat sighed. "I've just got a lot of things bouncing around in my mind right now. I needed somewhere else to think. Somewhere more free." He left out the part that he'd been meaning to sit and contemplate his feelings for Ladybug because he was thinking about her too much to possibly fall asleep.

 _ **i think it's only fair**_

 _ **there's gotta be some butterflies somewhere,**_

 _ **wanna share?**_

"Why'd you really come out here?"

Ladybug looked up at Chat, clearly not expecting him to ask her that. "I… I guess I have a lot of thoughts in my mind too. And you're right; the ground can get kind of claustrophobic when you need to think things through."

As Ladybug leaned her head back on Chat's shoulder, he wondered if she had butterflies in her stomach like he did. He wondered if every time their hands so much as brushed each other, her lungs aches for him like his did for her. He wondered if Ladybug could ever feel the way about him that he felt about her.

 _ **'cause i like you**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

"I should probably get going soon," Ladybug mumbled, but she made no effort to move. The last thing she wanted right now was for this moment to end, but she knew if she stayed out much later, she would be nearly falling asleep in class the next day. Again. Ladybug sighed and her gaze drifted towards Adrien's house.

"You keep looking off in that direction," Chat noted. "What over there is so special?"

Ladybug shook her head. "It doesn't really matter. You wouldn't care."

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love with me**_

"But I'm curious, M'lady." Chat figured he might as well assume she was looking at Adrien's house, so he added, "Is it about a boy? Does my Bugaboo have a crush?"

Ladybug felt her cheeks turn pink as she pushed Chat away. "Seriously, Chat. It doesn't matter."

So it _was_ about Adrien? Chat heard no denial. Maybe Ladybug had heard about the poem somehow. Maybe she and Marinette knew each other somehow? "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Ladybug hesitated, as if trying to figure out what to do. After a few moments, she spoke up. "Yeah. You probably don't know him, but I keep thinking about Adrien Agreste. I… I dunno, Chat. I really like him."

Chat was fairly certain his heart stopped beating.

 _ **oh, do me a favor**_

 _ **can your heart rate rise a little?**_

Marinette's heart lifted as soon as Adrien entered the classroom. He looked happier than usual, and not even Chloe screaming, _"ADRIKINS!"_ as he walked in the room could wipe the smile from his face.

Alya glanced from Marinette to Adrien and then back to her friend. "Did something happen between you and Adrien?"

"No?" Marinette responded, unsure of why Alya would think that. Nothing had even happened between Ladybug and Adrien, let alone Marinette and Adrien.

"Well you both look very happy. Almost as if you've been told," Alya lowered her voice, "the your crush likes you back."

Marinette's cheeks grew warm. Adrien had exactly confessed he had a crush on Marinette, so there was no way Marinette could tell Alya what had happened. "What? No! Why- why would you think that?!"

Alya just smiled and shook her head. Clearly she didn't believe Marinette in the slightest.

"Good morning, Marinette," Adrien greeted as he sat down.

"Good morning!"

Nino glanced back at Alya who gave him a look that clearly said something along the lines of, _"Do you know if they finally admitted they're in love?"_

 _ **do me a favor**_

 _ **can your heart rate rise a little?**_

Marinette figured that today would just be a normal day, but she was very, very, wrong. Her teacher was akumatized and Marinette couldn't get away to transform into Ladybug. To make matters worse, Chat hadn't shown up yet either.

Marinette thought she saw an opening to run to the bathroom, and she almost made it, except the akumatized teacher spotter her. Marinette didn't realize that, however, until it was almost too late.

"Marinette!" Adrien shouted. Marinette felt hands on her side, pushing her out of the way and consequently, falling on top of her. When Adrien realized what had happened, his heartbeat sped up. Why? He didn't even like Marinette like that… did he?

 _ **do me a favor,**_

 _ **can your heart rate rise a little?**_

"I have to-" Marinette was interrupted by a crash.

"Sorry, I didn't want you to get hurt." Adrien stood up before he helped Marinette up. Marinette could only offer a quick _"Thank you!"_ before she rushed off to the bathroom. Adrien didn't mind, though, seeing as he was preoccupied by several other things.

 _ **do me a favor…**_

Ladybug and Chat Noir consequently showed up just after Marinette and Adrien managed to escape. They thought this would be a fairly easy fight now that they were the superhero versions of themselves, but they were wrong.

The fight ended up in a back alley, so on the bright side, no more citizens of Paris would get hurt. On the downside, there would be no outside help for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Ladybug had already called for a lucky charm and Chat had already used up his Cataclysm, so they were running out of time and they had yet to figure out where the Akuma even was.

The Akumatized teacher summoned a ball of magic and blasted it towards Chat. Ladybug felt her heartbeat speed up as she launched herself towards Chat, hoping she could push him out of the way before the magic hit him, but fearing she would be too late.

 _ **oh, would you be so kind**_

 _ **as to fall in love with me?**_

Chat fell hard against the pavement, Ladybug on top of him. Somehow, they'd managed to avoid getting hit by any sort of magic that would have injured them.

Before Ladybug could say anything, she saw something in the corner of her eye that distracted her: a way to use her lucky charm! Maybe they could defeat this Akuma before time ran out after all!

Ladybug rolled off Chat. "Okay, I know what we need to do."

 _ **you see, i'm trying**_

"Bye bye, little butterfly," Ladybug waved as the de-evilized Akuma fluttered off into the sky. The teacher was disoriented, just as all the other Akuma victims were, but she was quickly on her way and Ladybug and Chat were left alone.

Chat's ring flickered, the last paw print disappearing from his ring. "I'm about to change back."

Ladybug placed a hand to her earrings, which showed that she would be changing back within moments as well. "Me too. We should probably go-"

But it was too late.

 _ **i know you know that i like you**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

Green light surrounded Chat's feet and it quickly scaled his legs. Ladybug yelped and squeezed her eyes shut as Chat transformed back into Adrien.

"You can open your eyes if you want," Adrien said as soon as the de-transformation was complete. "I don't mind if you know who I am."

Marinette fought a quick inner battle with herself. She knew she probably _shouldn't_ look, but curiosity won her over and she slowly opened her eyes to find herself face-to-face with Adrien Agreste. Ladybug's eyes widened and her brain tried to comprehend what was happening.

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love**_

"If you still want to keep your identity a secret, I understand," Adrien stated. "But I was tired of hiding it from you. I- I wanted to tell another friend, but I'm not sure she likes me much at Chat Noir."

"Wh-Which friend?" Ladybug stammered. No way was he talking about her. No way was she the two people Adrien most wanted to share his secret with. This was definitely all a dream.

"I doubt you know her. Her name's Marinette."

Ladybug bit her lip, trying not to shout that she was, in fact, Marinette and there was nothing wrong with Chat Noir (except maybe the amount of puns he could make in the span of thirty seconds) and that if she wasn't head over heels in love with Adrien, she probably would have already given in to Chat's attempts to woo her. But Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person, so now it kind of made sense why Ladybug liked both Chat and Adrien.

"I- I'm familiar with her, actually."

 _ **i think it's only fair**_

Ladybug's earrings flickered again, signalling that there was only a few moments before she would become Marinette once more.

"You can go if you want."

"No," Ladybug heard herself say. "I know your secret identity, so it's only fair that you know mine." Ladybug took a deep breath and shut her eyes as the detransformation began.

 _ **there's gotta be some butterflies somewhere,**_

 _ **wanna share?**_

Adrien could hardly believe what he was seeing as Ladybug changed into Marinette. Hadn't he just said moments ago that Ladybug probably didn't know Marinette? Clearly that wasn't the case. But if Ladybug was Marinette, and Adrien had told Marinette that his poem was about Ladybug-

No wonder Ladybug seemed to know about the poem! She was the only other person who had read it _and_ the person whose writing had inspired it!

Adrien's heart seemed to skip a beat as he realized this could very well lead to some problems.

Marinette's eyes opened up slowly and it looked as if she was immediately trying to read Adrien's expression, trying to see what he thought of the fact that Marinette was Ladybug.

 _ **'cause i like you**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

"Marinette?" Adrien whispered softly.

"Hi…"

"It's you."

"It's me." Marinette pursed her lips, not sure what to do. She couldn't tell what Adrien was thinking; if he was happy it was her or if he was disappointed.

Adrien's blank expression faded into a smile. "It's you!"

"That's… a good thing, then?"

Adrien wasn't sure Marinette was ready to hear, _"Yes because this means that I didn't actually have a crush on two completely different people which was really complicating my feelings and my life,"_ so it took him a moment to figure out how to respond.

"Yes. Yes! Marinette… I'm so happy it was you." Before Adrien could stop himself, he stepped forward and pulled Marinette into a hug.

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love**_

Marinette broke the hug rather quickly because she still had about a thousand things to say. "You're not...disappointed it was me? I mean, you… you're practically _in_ _love_ with Ladybug but then I'm just _me_ , I'm not anything special, and-"

"I'm in love with _you_ , Marinette," Adrien interrupted.

 _ **oh i like you,**_

 _ **but that's not enough**_

Marinette could hardly believe what she'd just heard. Adrien was in love with her? Not just as Ladybug...but as Marinette? Marinette didn't know what to say, so she blurted out the first sentence that came into her mind:

"I think I'm in love with you too."

 _ **so if you will,**_

 _ **please fall in love**_

Adrien closed the distance between the two of them and pressed his lips against Marinette's, and the kiss felt like home. Like it was meant to be.

 _ **with me**_


End file.
